Sword Art Online Alternative: Spell Blade Online Light Novel Volume 01
is the first book in the Sword Art Online Alternative: Spell Blade Online spinoff light novel series. It is the first volume in the Floating Castle of Death Arc. Summary The 『Sword Art Online』incident. The great professor, , has created a breakthrough in the world of VR with his new invention of the . However, his plan was truly a dark one. Using his power as the game moderator, he proceeded to lock the 10,000 players who had logged into the SAO servers within the game, charging them with the impossible task of clearing all 100 floors of the castle of Aincrad. Enter Kazuto Kirigaya. He was just a normal boy but proved to be an extraordinary man in the world of virtual reality. His leadership and raw skill as a player granted the players of SAO the courage to continue playing the death game, even after two years of being trapped inside. Yet, his devil's luck would not last. After discovering the identity of the Knights of the Blood commander, Heathcliff, uncovering him to be Akihiko Kayaba himself, Kazuto would challenge the professor to a duel. However, in so doing, he failed to defeat the professor, losing his life in the process. Without the leader that was Kazuto Kirigaya, the spirit of the SAO players was broken. It was she that arose to take the torch that Kazuto had dropped. With that torch, she guided the players through the remaining floors using her skill, her voice, and her kindness, as flags to rally at. This is the story of that female player that singlehandedly led to the clearing of the game, releasing the minds of those who were trapped. Chapters Section I: An Inkling of Evil Prologue Ayanami Shiratsuyu and Nijika Karatachi are both in Studio One of to record a single that will be used for Nijika's debut. As a confidence boost, Ayanami agreed to be the featured co-singer in the piece. After finishing the recording, they both return to the where they begin preparing to dive into «Sword Art Online», but not before having a small lunch and cleaning themselves. Ayanami, known as Kirin now as that is her in-game name, logs into SAO just as the clock ticks the exact time the servers open. She lands in the Town of Beginnings and meets up with Nijika, known as Rain in-game. They both then scout out for a player named Kazuto Kirigaya, known as Kirito in-game. Despite Kirin already knowing the basics of playing a VRMMORPG as she was one of SAO's beta testers, she asked Kirito to teach herself and Rain the basics. He agreed but a player named Klein begged to tag along. Out in the West Field, both Kirin and Rain perfectly executed the Sword Skill «Slant» before Kirito could begin coaching them which surprised him. He asked the three players whether or not they had any plans but they answered no. He then declared that they will spend the next four hours grinding in order to level up. At 1725, the four players collapse from exhaustion and they all joke about how tiring VR was. Klein then mentions that he has dinner waiting for him and proceeds to attempt to log out but brings to everyone's attention the absence of the log out button. Kirito tries to contact a GM but fails. Seconds later, they are all forcefully teleported to the Town of Beginnings where an that looks like the Grim Reaper breaks the news that the missing log out button is, in fact, a game mechanic of Sword Art Online. He then informs them that death in-game means death in real life and that the only way to escape is to clear the game. The apparition disappeared but not before leaving a "present" in all the players that erased their custom avatars, replacing it with their real-life appearance. Immediately sensing danger in the form of crazed fans, Kirin looked over at Kirito who agreed to take them to the next village. Although unnamed at the time, a moony Atsushi Shimakaze, known as Shimakaze in-game, stalked after Kirin, Rain, and Kirito. Chapter I Part I Part II Part III Chapter II Part I Part II Part III Chapter III Part I Part II Part III Epilogue Section II: The Rose, the Lily, and Morning Dew Prologue Chapter I Chapter II Epilogue Section III: The Torch's Inheritance Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Epilogue List of Illustrations Color Illustrations *Page 3-4: appears as the Grim Reaper to announce the beginning of the infamous SAO Incident. **No dialogue *Page 5-6: A shared breakfast table in Asuna and Kirito's honeymoon house with Kirin and Yui. **Dialogue of 『Mommy, this food is delicious!』(Yui), 『Aren't I the big sister, Nii-sama?』 (Kirin), 『Uh, let's not go there.』 (Kirito), 『I'm glad it suits your tastes, Yui.』 (Asuna) *Page 7-8: Kirito versus , their duel following the 75th Floor boss battle. **Dialogue of 『You indeed are strong enough to inherit that unique skill.』 (Heathcliff), 『What about you? You're practically impossible to penetrate.』 (Kirito) Chapter Illustrations An Inkling of Evil Prologue *Page 15: Kirin and Rain conversing with Kirito in the Town of Beginnings. Chapter I *Page 43: Kirito using «Starburst Stream» on in a solo raid of the 74th Floor boss room, killing it and clearing the floor. Chapter II *Page TBA: Kirito confronting Heathcliff in the conference room of the KoB headquarters as Kirin, Nautilus, Yuna, and Asuna look on. **Alternate: Kirin declaring her intention to duel Kirito for his admission into the KoB. Chapter III *Page TBA: Kirin versus Kirito: their duel in on the 75th Floor. **The illustration shows Kirin slamming Kirito's «Vorpal Strike» downward using the first strike of «Vertical Arc». **Alternate: Kirin activating «Nova Ascension». Epilogue *Page TBA: In the real world, Akihiko is in his cottage in the mountains of Aichi Prefecture when he receives a call from Nanairo Arshavin, a genius twelve-year-old professor who calls him from in . **Simply just a slightly diagonal line on the center with Akihiko on the left and Nanairo on the right. The Rose, the Lily, and Morning Dew Prologue *Page TBA: Kirin killing in their Total Loss duel. Chapter I *Page TBA: Kirito and Asuna discover Yui in the forest. Chapter II *Page TBA: Yui defeating « » using « ». *Page TBA: The Torch's Inheritance Prologue Chapter I Chapter II *Page TBA: The Clearers gather in the Teleport Gate Plaza for the 75th Floor boss battle. Chapter III Epilogue Trivia *This volume of the light novel was originally published as a web novel on the website, , beginning on October 18th, 2018. *Several illustrations were cut out from the final version of the light novel. These include: **An illustration of Kirin, Yuna, and Nautilus have a picnic lunch in the flower fields of the 47th Floor. **An illustration of Kirito in the 74th Floor Labyrinth using «Horizontal Square» on a , killing it. **An illustration of Kirin, wearing her inner alter personality, kissing Kirito in order to administer the healing potion. **An illustration of Kirin and Asuna in the conference room of the Knights of the Blood headquarters in Granzam on the 55th Floor, reporting to Heathcliff about the 74th Floor. **An illustration of Shimakaze fighting off a group of players from Laughing Coffin in the plains of the 75th Floor. **An illustration of Kirin eavesdropping on Kirito's marriage proposal to Asuna. **An illustration of Kirito and Asuna standing on the balcony of their house on the 22nd Floor proudly while Kirin watches from below. **An illustration of Kirin fighting Pitohui when the latter attempts to attack Kirito during their honeymoon. *Due to the word hallow being a synonym of the word worship, the word used in the kanji of the volume's title, the author felt it was fine to use Hallowing instead of Worshipping. *Originally, the final product of the story would have two prologues for the first section, however, the author decided that there was no point to have two prologues and combined them into one. Category:Aincrad Arc